


kindness makes the world go round

by VinculumStellarum



Category: Mr. Driller (Video Games)
Genre: Autistic Character, Gen, Tags Are Hard, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25275154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VinculumStellarum/pseuds/VinculumStellarum
Summary: You'd do everything in your power to help those in need, even if it gets a little emotional.
Relationships: Ataru Hori/George
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	kindness makes the world go round

**Author's Note:**

> Wouldn't you know it, I write drillers too! Before I start anything, I should mention that my portrayal of Mr. Driller characters may be very heavily influenced by headcanons. It might help in understanding the characters and the relationships between them more in this fic.
> 
> This is an expansion of a comic I drew last year, which explored how I imagined Ataru and Wataru met, since I HC them as being close friends. I don't think I'll link to it here, but I'm still proud of it, and I feel that now that my writing muse has come back, I'm able to flesh out the concept better and do it more justice. I've tagged for teen and up because I feel that the story gets a little heavy, but I'm unsure there's anything to actually tag /for/, so please do bear with me.
> 
> This is tagged for Ataru/George, but George is only mentioned at the end and doesn't do any talking. I think it's clearly mentioned he's Ataru's boyfriend, though, so I hope that clears things up. I'd also like to clear up that the autistic character is Wataru.
> 
> Finally, it should be clear, but this fic is written from Wataru's POV.
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy!

You hated seeing people in trouble.

Something about the thought of those good people in such bad situations made your stomach churn, and you really couldn’t figure out why. Maybe you had too much sympathy. How could you even be sure they were good people? Had you left your rose-coloured contacts in for too long? Whatever the case, you believed it wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t any different tonight, walking past that convenience store on your way home with your friend Chuta Bigbang. Your route home passed the back of the store, and usually, you found the dark passage intriguing, longing to explore it further but never finding the time to; you couldn’t now, and you always forgot to otherwise. Tonight, however, you noticed the alleyway housed… someone, within. At first glance, from far away, you weren’t sure what to refer to them as. All you knew is that they looked down for the count, battered and dishevelled, or that’s the snap judgement you made, anyways. Either way, it upset you to see, and you didn’t want to ignore them or be wrong about their situation; you felt the primal instinct to help them. Tonight, you decided you were taking a bit of a detour from your normal route home.

“Hey, I’m going to go into the convenience store. You can go on without me. I need to do something here,” you said, the words heavy as you spoke them. It almost felt like you were ordering him to leave you alone, and you felt bad about it, but now wasn’t the time to let that bother you too. There was a more important matter at hand, you felt.

“...Alright, I suppose. Stay safe, alright?” Chuta replied concernedly.

“Of course. You know me.” Giving one last look around to make sure the surroundings were safe for you, Chuta turned around and strolled along, leaving you to your devices. You peeked around the corner again to try to get a better look at your rescuee (that’s how you’d say it at school, anyways), who sat tiredly against the concrete store wall, back slumped and a makeshift knapsack in front. Your first thought was to try to give them better sleeping arrangements where they were, but the convenience store wouldn’t really sell pillows, and you didn’t have much money to your name to spend a lot, so the next best thing you could do was buy a sandwich and bottle of water for the person. 

Once you’d made the purchase and left the store, you quietly and awkwardly made your way down the alleyway, unsure how to start a conversation. You never knew how to handle yourself around people you didn’t already know. There was always some kind of mental block that kept you from feeling confident talking to strangers, and you hated it. _What a bad mix for an extrovert like you,_ you thought. But the person in the alleyway had already noticed your presence, and it forced you to jump straight to the point.

“...H-Hey, um, you don’t look so well, man,” you started, glancing nervously around. The person didn’t seem to be upset, but you couldn’t help but worry you’d disturbed them or otherwise upset them, and that you wouldn’t know you did. “I got you a sandwich. Um…”

“For me?” The person’s voice was soft, but spoke at a deeper tone than you’d expected it to. It sounded like they’d practiced to sound that way. They looked up from their position, eyeing the crinkled brown bag you held in your right hand and running their hands through their bushy hair so they looked a little more presentable. Their hair was a dull blonde colour, but you’d honestly thought they had grey hair at first. Kind of odd for someone who looked as young as them. Maybe dye? Bleach?

“Yeah.” You handed the bag to the person at your feet, and decided to make an impulse decision. Anything to help. “I… D’you need a place to stay? I’ve got room for one more at home.”

The other person shook their head and let out a tired giggle. “No… I’ll be fine, I think. But thank you. It really isn’t that cold out here, and I already know a few comfortable spots around anyways.” Their response shouldn’t have, but it hit you like some bratty kid had slung rocks at your back, and it stung a little. Why were they so nonchalant about it? It wasn’t right to you.

“A… Are you sure?” you asked worriedly, to make sure. You were lowkey desperate for them to accept your offer, and hoped it wasn’t obvious to them, but you tended to wear your emotions on your sleeve. If you were excited, the people around you knew. If you were angry, the people around you knew. If you were distraught, god forbid it, but the people around you knew that, too.

“I’m absolutely sure. Much appreciated, though,” the other person replied between bites. “Thank you for the meal, at least.”

“No problem. It’s only the least I can do, but I’m glad I could do _something_.” You wanted to head back into the convenience store to see what else you could get, as compensation for not being able to take them in for a night, but before you could do that, the person’s voice called you back curiously.

“Before you go, uh… Why do this for me?” They sat themself up straight, a grin on their face. They looked very grateful, and their energy passed onto you; you couldn’t help but feel a bit happier, too. “People say not to give to strangers like this. Stranger danger. And yet here you are, going out of your way to buy me dinner and offer shelter… We’ve never met before, and it’s late out.”

“Well, that’s what you’re supposed to do, right? Kindness makes the world go ‘round. Learned that at Delta Academy.” You grinned widely, recalling the personal anecdotes your principal, Dr. Z, would tell you sometimes during lunch break at school. _Always give back to others where you can,_ he’d say. _Treat them how you’d want to be treated._ It was already in your nature to be selfless and supportive of others, or you tried anyways, but you had a lot of respect for the old man, and took the things he said to heart. Without him, you wouldn’t be a part of the Star Trigon. You wouldn’t have gotten to meet Susumu Hori, one of the nicest classmates you’d ever had, and you wouldn’t have been able to enter rescue work so easily.

Susumu Hori… ?

When you looked at the person in front of you again, you almost recognized them. Maybe not directly, but they sure did look an awful lot like Susumu. Your heart sank as you thought about it, and it was going to kill you all night if you didn’t ask. Maybe then, you could see if there was anything you could do to help via him.

“W-Wait… You look like Susumu if he had a sibling. Are you…?”

“...Susumu? Yeah, I’m his brother. Call me Ataru,” the boy responded.

_So that’s why Susumu was literally worried sick the last few days at school._

You weren’t sure how to respond. You barely knew Ataru, hell, you’d just met him, but you felt angry he was here like this. Back to square one. You felt like you were processing a million emotions at once, and your mind was on the highway, your train of thought unable to pause for even a second. Where to even begin…?

“I-Is everything okay?” The only words you were able to muster. Ataru sighed and pulled at his sweatshirt so it hid his frame better, finishing his sandwich in one hand as he shook at his clothes with the other.

“It’ll be fine. I just need time away from everything, where I can’t be disturbed. I imagine I’ll be back home in a few days,” he told you. “Not worth going into. But… I can’t deny it hurts a little.” When Ataru said those words, you sensed a sort of emotional wall crash down, and you noticed his eyes revealed weakness, beginning to water. It wasn’t long until you started to feel awful too, god damn your sympathy. “You’re one of Susumu’s classmates, aren’t you? You sorta match the description.”

“Me? Did he tell you about a Wataru Hoshi?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. I hate to drag you into this, but would you be willing to do me a favour, Wataru?”

“O-Of course,” you replied. What a whirlwind of emotions you felt right now. You hadn’t expected this, but you were glad you could do more to help. “What do you want me to do?”

“There’s two people I need you to talk to for me, just so they know I’m okay. The first is Susumu. He must be worried sick over all this—”

“He went home early yesterday and has barely been able to focus all week,” you blurted. Realizing that was probably going to make Ataru feel worse, you cussed under your breath and grabbed at hair from the sides of your head. “Sorry. That doesn’t help.”

“No, it’s okay,” Ataru reassured you. “That’s about what I thought was gonna happen. I need you to tell him you saw me here, and that things are okay. That I’m okay.”

“Can I tell him you’re here?” you asked. “He… he’d want to see you, right?” A small silence followed, and you worried that you overstepped boundaries.

“Well, I don’t know how long I’ll stay here, necessarily. But if you could tell him I go to the park at night, by the meteor crater, I’d appreciate that. Gives the both of us some consistency, and I’m sure if he gets to see me he’d feel much better,” Ataru replied. A tiny smile broke onto his face, but it didn’t last long as he returned to a more serious state. “The other person I need you to tell is my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend? Who’s that?” Someone like you. It felt comforting knowing you weren’t alone.

“Ask Susumu to take you to the house of a guy named George. Real sweet kid, orange hair, yellow scarf, usually wears all grey? I know he’d want to hear from me too. You can tell him I go to the park, too.”

“I can do that. But why get me to tell him too, if I’m going to tell Susumu, and Susumu’s going to take me there?”

“Simple enough. You’re the first-hand source. Things might get confused between you to Susumu, and Susumu to Georgie. I want him to have as much of the truth as possible,” Ataru explained, his expression falling flat, yet still with wet eyes. “It’s late. Please go home. Get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a school day, isn’t it?”

“Y-Yeah…” You didn’t want to leave. If you had the opportunity, and if he was okay with it, you wanted to keep him company all night. But Susumu and George weren’t going to tell themselves about Ataru’s whereabouts, and you had to carry that message on for him. “I guess I should go home, huh. Night. And thanks.”

  
“Goodnight, and thank _you_. Hopefully we’ll get to talk more sometime.”


End file.
